“Everybody here is a transplant”

Submitted by Devastator1981 t3_10gsn4e in washingtondc

🤔 Curious, to start with keeping this to our personal sphere:—

  1. How many of you either went to high school in the DMV OR even if you did not you have at least two good friends that went to high school in the DMV? (let’s define DMV as DC or a county bordering DC—so Greenbelt, MD yes, Fredericksburg VA no)

  2. How many of you interact with someone regularly outside of your job but in your day-to-day life (bartender, mechanic, tax advisor, barber, mailman, your lawyer, etc) from DC? Interact with enough that you know their name and you can chit chat.

EDIT: There is nothing wrong with being a transplant or not being from here obviously. I simply think the transient nature of DC is way overstated.

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drunkinlike t1_j54slax wrote

i mean, if you talk to black people, it’s not that unusual to meet dc/dmv natives.

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Devastator1981 OP t1_j54x6hy wrote

Yea I didn't even want to or feel the need to go there, but that's true. Even without that, I'm surprised by how much stuff like "everybody in DC is transient" or "nobody is from here" is just thrown around and accepted at face value. Very odd.

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CreditUnlucky407thro t1_j564orp wrote

Some social groups have a higher amount of transplants, too. One of the groups I was in for years didn't have any natives.

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PanAmargo t1_j5as07q wrote

I think the DMV has a “native” population loosely defined as people born in the area still living there around 30 - 40%. This is on the low end nationally for large metros. It pales in comparison to more “townie” spots in up state New York or the Midwest for instance, but is lower nationally than most other big cities, approaching Florida levels. Though there may be some noise in the data because it defined if you’re living in the state you were born in, so if someone is born in VA and moved to MD it may be counting that as a transplant, but hard to tell from the data:

https://www.promoverreviews.com/moving-resources/us-cities-most-transplants/#Wrapping_Up:_Major_Insights_and_Conclusions

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captainsmoothie t1_j55xhez wrote

“Everyone in DC is so spoiled and boring.” -my ex who exclusively traveled between Kalorama and Georgetown

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swampoodler t1_j55481k wrote

People who hate ‘transplants’ are at heart xenophobic.

In this country you have no right to a place because you were born in a place; it’s a free country. Someone who chooses to move to a city is at least making a conscious decision to do so, as opposed to just suddenly existing in and never leaving that place.

What matters: Do you call this place home and do you want to make it better?

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Devastator1981 OP t1_j557l5q wrote

There's nothing wrong with transplants, hopefully that's not what you got out of my post, happy to edit if that's it the impression.

I'm just pushing back on the "everyone is a transplant here" mantra.

<< Do you call this place home and do you want to make it better? >>

Totally agree.

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swampoodler t1_j55dvms wrote

Ah no not directed at you. Just the general reader. You good. ❤️

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whojintao t1_j57tdxg wrote

Appreciate this, as some approaching Year Seven in DC - which is wayyy longer than the time I’ve spent in any other city, barring my parent’s residence. I consider DC home now, and it’s a bit disheartening at times to be made to feel that i’ll never be “local” because I wasn’t born here.

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swampoodler t1_j58ubty wrote

Being a “native” is dumb AF unless you are indigenous IMO. Folk need to chill. This is our city. If you live here you local.

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NattysfortheNatty t1_j55xgr5 wrote

I generally agree with this sentiment. I just think my and others frustration is not that “everyone is from somewhere else” but that “everyone is from somewhere else, and they’d seemingly rather be there and are working to get back there once/if they can get a decent job there.”

It just feels like it contributed to the very transitory nature of the area, which is just a bummer for establishing stable friend groups/relationships. I’m sure others have had better experiences, but that’s certainly been mine as born and raised DMV’er

Edit to add: and you do feel that the people with more “family/local ties” to an area are less likely to end up leaving in the future

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galore_ t1_j5amlfe wrote

LMAO this is totally the spirit behind colonialism and manifest destiny. The reason why people DO NOT like transients/transplants and despise gentrification its because it's a descendant of colonialism.

Like if we had the opportunity to ask the guys who came here and killed tons of natives to take their land... i'm more than sure they'd share a similar sentiment as yours.

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swampoodler t1_j5aokij wrote

Literally DC is a result of colonialism.

Closing the door after the fox is in the hen house, IMO.

The US today is a free and open country when it comes to travel and choice of residence. Don’t excuse xenophobia. This city, like this country, is made out of the many.

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overnighttoast t1_j5fhuqj wrote

>People who hate ‘transplants’ are at heart xenophobic

I mean, if people came into your home, pushed out your friends, started erasing the culture, and made little effort to engage with you, then turned around and complained that "no one is REALLY from here" and "well you'll find much more culture in LA or NYC" you'd probably hate them too, but go off I guess.

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swampoodler t1_j5fkxpn wrote

No one is busting into someone’s home and taking it. SMH.

The US is a young country and constantly in flux when it comes to both culture and identity.

Should things be more equitable? Yes. Should we try to stop change? No.

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Spirit-S65 t1_j54j02k wrote

  1. Born at Holy Cross, went to HS in Silver Spring. Lots and lots still in the area.
  2. Often, most of my family is from DC proper so nearly every day.

Plenty of people here who aren't transplants.

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jacks_312 t1_j5agbyu wrote

Same here. Holy Cross baby raised in Rockville. Have lived in DC proper for 10 years and interact with people every day that I grew up with that live in DC now. Most of my close friends were born and raised in DMV. We are very different than most transplants living in DC. We aren’t political, we’re less career motivated, we grew up in one of the most diverse areas in the world, we’re more laidback and down to earth - we’re just real fucking cool :P

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layzie77 t1_j55p37h wrote

1.) Yup, born in DC (Providence Hospital) 30+ years ago. Went to school in MD. Elementary school was the best experience, middle and high school was a shit show. Loved undergrad and currently in grad school+work.

2.) Yes, I talked to my mail man from work all the time, and the staff at the stores near me.

Also not Black, but when people ask me where I'm from, and I tell them DC, they meant to ask for my ethnicity. Some people don't realise a lot of Latinos have been here for several decades including the 1st generation.

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Motor_Truck9006 t1_j54me5t wrote

DC born and raised. Providence Hospital/Cardozo High School. I talk to DC people everyday I’m really from here. Like 95% of the people I know are from DC/DMV. The other 5% are people I met in college.

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AnnaPhor t1_j54zchr wrote

I'm an immigrant. This year marks 20 years in DC. I did not go to high school, college, or grad school here. I came here because my husband got a government job.

I can definitely count a couple of good friends that grew up in the metro area.

Regular interactions -- the pandemic changed this. The place that I would routinely meet folks from more diverse walks of life than my own professional/social sphere was at our DCPS school. Post-pandemic my kid is in middle school and the opportunities for casual interaction with other families is much decreased, both because we are no longer watching 7 year olds on a playground together, and also because a lot of school interaction is now virtual.

While I'm definitely not FROM here, I've lived here longer than I've lived anywhere else, and my child was born here.

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Devastator1981 OP t1_j551c13 wrote

>While I'm definitely not FROM here, I've lived here longer than I've lived anywhere else, and my child was born here.

I don't think you'd be wrong per se if you were out in St. Louis at a conference happy hour and you said you were "from Washington".

Where are you from, what's home?

Where you live?

Where you have lived the longest?

Where you are born?

Where you grew up? (if it's different from where you were born and also where you live)

Where in your heart you identify with?

All of the above? :)

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AnnaPhor t1_j553f03 wrote

"Where I'm from" is a complicated question. Layers. Like an onion. :)

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cardamom_peonies t1_j55khyo wrote

I mean, I'm not keen on shittesting immigrants about "well are you really from here" if they've lived here for decades lol. It comes across as a little hostile and also just not super relevant?

My folks are immigrants too and had citizenship for 25+ years at this point. They've lived in the U.S city I'm from for pretty much all of that and they've lived in the states for longer than they lived in their home country, since they left as young adults. If we're really going by "you're not a real DC/whatever city person unless you went to a highschool in this specific geographic area" of course they don't qualify but like, they've had far more lived experiences about being a local than most of the younger crowd who have lived in the area since birth. Especially since it's not particularly hard to have a very limited impression of the DMV if you're a broke teenager still living under the thumb of your folks.

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Devastator1981 OP t1_j55md2m wrote

Folks got the wrong impression but it's on me for how I worded the original post. Intent was actually the opposite of "shit testing". It was to demonstrate that there are folks with strong roots to DC (however you want to define it) that are here to stay.

I keep seeing folks will be like "DC is so transient" or "everybody is a transplant" here, suggesting implying some type of shallow or inauthentic collective (or individual) connection to the city. My view is that this is not true.

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cardamom_peonies t1_j55n4tu wrote

Yeah sure but being like "hey you as an immigrant, give me a detailed break down of where you're from/your affiliations" is gross and just reminds me of the times my folks got hazed by randos about their citizenship status.

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AnnaPhor t1_j59vd0g wrote

I personally prefer not to to ever ask anyone "where are you from" -- because, as you say, it can be a little off, and for some folks comes off as Why Are You Brown ?

In conversational and social settings, I like to ask "did you grow up around here?" -- which is much more what I'm really interested in asking! Making small talk or getting to know a person by asking a little bit about their background and history.

Anyway, OP -- I'm happy to say that yes, I'm not transient, I have roots here, but when people ask me where I'm from, it's usually an opportunity for me to talk about some of the other aspects of my identity.

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BlueCollarGuru t1_j567uhm wrote

I am a transplant from Kansas but I was in 3rd grade in very early 80s. Fairmont Heights was my HS. I know lots of people from DC and the dmv. Like all my friends. Any friends not from DC are my wife’s friends.

Funny story time. One time I was driving home from work. Was on whatever street runs thru sursum corda waiting to make the left on north Capitol. Lights green, traffic flows. Dude on the outside lane just meanders over into my lane on the inside so I beep. He moves back but we’re right next to each other in gridlock.

He says “see that’s what’s wrong with the city, people like you comin in here and fuckin it up”. I’m white, he’s black. I’m obviously older than he was so I said “man I been here since before you were born and what you mean by ‘people like you’?” You can see the gears turning in his head and he just yells out “ITALIANS!!!”

Man I died laughin, that shit was hilarious.

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justmahl t1_j55offj wrote

I think the issue is that transplants don't really interact with natives. Part of that is the race element but another big part is that they live in two different worlds. Many transplants come here with some connection to the federal government. Most natives have zero interest in federal government. So it's easy to end up in a bubble where you only see and cross paths with other transplants where as natives mostly interact with other natives.

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fvb955cd t1_j563bfk wrote

Do they not? This seems like part of the massive assumption that I frequently see cited here, and basically never see in reality. There are two places where transplants actually seemed really detached from natives, and actually likely to leave within a few years, the military and universities. Outside that, my federal agency is filled with people who are transplants and havent left for 20+ years and will die here, and natives of many generations to dc. The notion that there aren't native dc residents in the largest and most geographically stable industry in town is mind boggling to me, and completely unsupported by my own experiences. Where do people think a massive chunk of the recent black Middle class works?

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Suki100 t1_j5ab6ig wrote

Completely false. The Federal government is the reason that many people stay in DC, both transplants and "natives". DC natives are not interested in political appointee positions or climbing the political ladder of Fed work. But many enjoy public service work. When I first started working for the Feds, back in the 2000s as an intern, many people were native to DC and taught me the ropes.

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justmahl t1_j5abw0j wrote

As you say, most natives aren't interested in climbing the political ladder of fed work. Most are office positions. Meanwhile if someone moves here to work in the federal government or related industry, they aren't coming here to spend 20+ years in the same office. Just two different worlds.

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Suki100 t1_j6mxrma wrote

I have been in the same office for 16 years! I think most people want stability. Some are built for moving and grooving through agencies, consulting firms and job titles. Some just want to clock in, do their job, clock out and go home.

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DrTrustMeBro t1_j54ia6u wrote

  1. Born at Georgetown University Hospital. Went to Sidwell. Family still lives here and majority of my friends from HS are starting to move back and now we hang out as families.

  2. All the time.

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ninjalinja t1_j54j15t wrote

Heyo, fellow Quaker here too!

  1. Lived in DC proper my whole life. Chinatown > Foggy Bottom (GWU) > Southwest Waterfront > Fort Lincoln. Now I'm overseas but still contract for a DC firm.

  2. Running into an actual DC native is like an achievement. But I see DMV natives all the time too.

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NPRjunkieDC t1_j5576qd wrote

My son was a lifer . Graduated 2012 . He has a few good friends from school. Used to visit his teachers when he was in town. Still keeps in touch cuz he shared some news about them over the holidays.

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Professional-Can1385 t1_j54rpqh wrote

  1. I’ve got 1 good friend who was born and raised in DC and one from born elsewhere but raised in Rockville.

  2. I would say my friends and acquaintances are about 50/50 native and transplant. But the transplants have almost all been here at least a decade. We’re lifers.

(I love that native Washingtonians tell you which hospital they were born at.)

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Devastator1981 OP t1_j54xbvu wrote

>I would say my friends and acquaintances are about 50/50 native and transplant. But the transplants have almost all been here at least a decade. We’re lifers.

I knew those existed in this city! I was starting to wonder 😉

I think what people mean to say is "a high number [or many] young white-collar professionals in their 20s are transient and often from elsewhere". It's a very specific demographic to which that applies to, and they're often friends with each other and so folks just apply it as a blanket statement. And even that might be too general, it's the Hill/public policy/IR/poli sci crowd even within the white-collar professionals that are disproportionally transient, but to be fair DC has a relatively higher number of this crowd than probably any other city in the US (the world?).

I'm not even being that pedantic, outside of that demographic there's quite a bit of lifers and people here in DC for the long haul!

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msmith1994 t1_j5hbs1h wrote

This! I’m in my late 20s and moved to the DMV in 2016. I moved into DC proper in 2018, and was in Silver Spring and Bethesda before that. I’m a civilian fed, but not in the policy/poli sci space. Many of my friends moved here to work for the government but intend to stay here. I also have close friends and coworkers that are DMV natives that work for the government.

I think you’re spot on that it’s Hill/poli sci/public policy people that are transient. In my neighborhood (Michigan Park), there’s tons of retired/current career feds. Also lots of. DC government employees. Lots of DC natives up here. My neighbors have been in their house for like 40 years.

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NPRjunkieDC t1_j556kll wrote

My son could actually live in the building he was born . Columbia Hospital for Women was located exactly where the first Trader Joe's opened in DC. 25th/Pennsylvania Ave NW.

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Suki100 t1_j5abn9q wrote

Agreed. Truly a unique thing that I noticed. I also say where my kid was born. The hospital made my birthing and parenting experience so much better.

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giscard78 t1_j54xrz0 wrote

I grew up in MoCo and most of my friends are from there with plenty from DC, PG, and NoVA. Especially growing up, it seemed like there were constantly people moving from DC/PG into MoCo.

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Seppafer t1_j554g7d wrote

1 I’m born and raised in the city and went to HS and college here too.

  1. All my friends growing up are gone off to live elsewhere in the country and most of my current friends don’t even live North America. So no I don’t know many people outside work
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bebblebutt69 t1_j561jo9 wrote

My husband was born and raised here and we regularly hang out with his friends and relatives who are all from the DMV too. I don’t have a stereotypical DC transplant job so I’m talking to locals more often than not.

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KombuchaLady3 t1_j55g77t wrote

  1. I was born at Georgetown Hospital and grew up in the MD suburbs. Lived in DC since 2012. My mom was born in DC as well (at the old Providence hospital).

  2. I have lots of family and childhood friends in the area still I talk to regularly.

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Old_Distribution_235 t1_j56hkv4 wrote

  1. Born at GW in DC, grew up in Alexandria and the Alexandria section of Fairfax County, lived in the District since 2001.
  2. All the time - got friends and family all over the area, interact with them on the daily.
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Acol1992 t1_j59wbbl wrote

I have an office full of DC natives. I’d say in talk to at least 5 DC natives every day. I work in real estate

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districtdathi t1_j55fxui wrote

we can be a little elitist about who qualifies as a DC native! I think you should have a caveat for transplants who've lived here for over ten years, not that I'm one, though! My family moved here during the New Deal to work. I was born in DC, brought up in Cheverly, moved back to DC as a teen.

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Devastator1981 OP t1_j55kdme wrote

>we can be a little elitist about who qualifies as a DC native! I think you should have a caveat for transplants who've lived here for over ten years, not that I'm one, though! My family moved here during the New Deal to work. I was born in DC, brought up in Cheverly, moved back to DC as a teen.

That's my point, but I didn't communicate it clearly :)

That there are plenty of people with real tangible ties to DC. It's not just all these transients passing through, or that nobody identifies with the place, or that it isn't a real true home to thousands.

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MutedWealth6247 t1_j55ukzd wrote

Born and raised. Went to HS in the city. 3rd generation. DC is a small town if you are local.

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alizadk t1_j56xtr4 wrote

My husband is 5th or 6th generation from the area. I'm second generation to grow up in MoCo. Hubby actually went to the same high school as my dad, and MIL went to a neighboring school.

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Savageride t1_j57xsuy wrote

I’m from Alexandria but live in DC 43. All my friends are from here that I talk to daily outside of work.

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dollygrace2021 t1_j57yg92 wrote

Born and raised in DC and went to college here too. Most of my friends with the exception of 1 are from DC. People are genuinely shocked when I tell them that I am not a transplant

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JosuetheBear t1_j58yei8 wrote

Born and raised. Went to a HS in DC

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SadDust6560 t1_j59s43p wrote

  1. Yes went to high school in the DMV. I moved back after 11 years this past summer.
  2. I still go to the same hair stylist I’ve gone to since I was 15 (even when I moved I would save trips to the salon for my visits back) and my family still lives here so we know our neighbors/friends/etc.
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Oldbayistheshit t1_j5bj1w2 wrote

Born and raised in SIlver Spring. In grade school we would take the metro into DC to roller blade around the mall. Hike the billy goat trail and jump off the side into the Potomac were weekend occurrences. 20’s and 30’s we had certain bars that were like high school reunions. DC is very small when you’re from the area

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jaymansi t1_j5c07ih wrote

As a native DMVer. I don’t like people who come from somewhere else and then shit talk why such and such a place was better. I’m like if it’s so much better why did you leave? Or are your bags packed?

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kirkl3s t1_j54x3gp wrote

  1. This probably doesn't count, but my dad was stationed at Bolling while I was in Jr High. But I have lots of friends and colleagues that were born and raised in the DC area
  2. I interact with DC natives daily. Most of neighbors are second or third generation DC natives.
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GetReadyToRumbleBar t1_j5577zf wrote

  • Maternal grandparents lived in DC starting in ~1952 (1 apartment is now a dorm at GWU, the other was a tenement converted from an old townhouse off Dupont)
  • Grandfather worked in the DC IBM office
  • Paternal grandparents buried at Arlington, WWII & Korea vet
  • Mother born in DC, along with her 3 siblings
  • Parents worked in the State Dept for 15+ years
  • FIL helped build numerous DC high schools, hotels and museums including the US Holocaust museum
  • Born and raised in Fairfax, attended George Mason, live in Loudoun.
  • Still in touch with ~20 friends who all went to FCPS high school with us.
  • Interned on Capitol Hill for a Congressman

I hate these questions.

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Devastator1981 OP t1_j557gyu wrote

My point was actually that there are plenty of people in DC (in real life) and on this sub "from DC".

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[deleted] t1_j55euxt wrote

I am a transplant but I have a large group of friends here either born and raised in the city limits or an immediate suburb (Arlington, Bethesda, silver spring)

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lmboyer04 t1_j55v1q0 wrote

  1. Born and raised in Fairfax county. Went to school out of state but returned. DC as a city is fairly well balanced in most aspects and pretty ideal for me. Has a lot to offer while being a humane city.

  2. Tbh I don’t interact with a lot of people outside of my job / friend group.

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ofriendly t1_j5612bj wrote

Born at GW, DC public school till high school, 4 th generation Washingtonian.

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Blackice1625 t1_j56767k wrote

Interesting Discussion: Born in VA in a family member’s living room raised near the DC/PG line until my family moved deeper into PG. My mom worked in DC so we spent a lot of time in DC and she spent years living in the city before I was born. PGCPS all K-12. Went to colleges in MD. Moved into the city to teach and be closer to my students. Wanted to teach in DC or PG to help other low income kids make it to and through college. When I got a job it was at a HS in the city. No longer teaching so I’ve considered leaving the city and moving to MD but my rent is actually cheaper than a lot of buildings similar in MD areas that I can easily hope on Marc. I’m a non driver so living in DC has more accessible public transport options than where my parents are in PG.

Funny enough I now work remote so none of my coworkers are from here. When I taught, a lot of the teachers weren’t from the DMV either. My whole life is rooted here. Maybe I’m even scared to leave the DMV.

That’s why people need to do more than talk to their circle or you’ll sum valid nuanced conversations into one sided arguments. There’s a difference between moving and being a transplant. Everyone who moved here isn’t an evil person who wants make DC bland and drive off minorities, sometimes they are also people who’ve been displaced or came for a job/school and couldn’t really afford to pick up and leave or go home or become so involved the DMV is their new home. It just depends on really the interactions. DC is also one of the safest places for the LGBT and has decriminalized cannabis. Transplants to me really are people not in the immediate DMV at all but flood these spaces to amplify crime and low resources to start these kinds of discord in DC. The hate for non locals isn’t hate but more so feeling competitive for the limited resources this city has. It’s like if you are making more and appear more desirable if you keep coming I’ll eventually be pushed out. The fear is coming out as hate instead of us finding solidarity to share resources or support only the politicians who have all of us in mind. It’s on both sides but of course the incomers have to respect that they don’t have full knowledge of history and culture here, so there’s a level of yielding to locals they have to do to understand. It’s not all as it seems.

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afreelady2020 t1_j569b15 wrote

Born in Fairfax and went to catholic high school here. I maintained friendships with most of my high school friends in my early 20s (once I came back from college) but then life happened and people gradually moved etc. In Nova the farther away from Arlington you get the more locals you meet. It’s funny to me when people mention Annandale as a foodie hotspot when I would grab food there all the time as a kid

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d1dzter t1_j56b9af wrote

I graduated high school in the DC area. Been in and around the region most of my life. I've also spent a significant amount of time abroad as a child and an adult.

I know a lot of people in the DMV. And an okay amount of the region's history.

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veloharris t1_j56my96 wrote

The majority of people in my social circle grew up in DC. I did not.

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Free_Dog_6837 t1_j56o0nw wrote

lived here since 2008. the people i associate with are mostly all from china tho

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Homingpigeon123 t1_j56wmnz wrote

My family has lived in DC for five generations

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Deep_Stick8786 t1_j56z9u4 wrote

  1. Nope, Lived in NY suburbs, Michigan, Philly and Boston before coming to DC. Moved here after schooling for work with my wife

  2. My children! Born and raised in DC. Also all of my friends’ children.

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vtsandtrooper t1_j5846rx wrote

Been here since kindergarten (even earlier than that)

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Quirky-Camera5124 t1_j58tqou wrote

dc native, hs in dc. of my class, only one other stayed in dc. dc kids want to get away from it, others want to come. guess that is normal.

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Designer_Ad8027 t1_j58tvuo wrote

DC General Hospital, Lived here all my life almost 30 years

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Lazy_Swimming_6609 t1_j5kswua wrote

2nd generation Washingtonian. Born at Sibley Hospital and went to the same high school in NW as my father went to and my kids go to.

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heyitsta12 t1_j54uxfb wrote

One of my good friends was raised here and went to Holy Trinity??

Also have a few friends that were raised in fort Washington. All of us interact on a regular basis and hang out.

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reeleet t1_j569ouj wrote

SMD, born at Georgetown in 1971.

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lucislibarii t1_j57hes6 wrote

I'm a transplant (C-VA shout out) but 90% of the people I talk to are from DC or DC-adjacent. I wonder who these people are talking to, the three 'transplants' I know are my roommate who moved here with me from NC and two of my coworkers from SoVA and Ohio.

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Suburbs-suck t1_j55puf4 wrote

Wasn’t born here and I don’t know single person born/raised in DC proper.

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DharmaDivine t1_j55v5mo wrote

3rd generation Washingtonian.

Went to DC public schools and UDC law school.

I know all my bartenders, but my memory is shite, so I prolly don’t remember their names every time

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mmarkDC t1_j59b6n6 wrote

Same here! Although that's not that different from other places I've lived. I went to high school in Houston, and almost none of my friends there were born in Texas.

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